Independent craft breweries, BrewDog (Scotland) and YellowBelly Beer (Ireland), have teamed up to brew ‘Kottbusser’, a once-forgotten German beer style, at YellowBelly’s brewery in Wexford, Ireland.

This innovative incarnation of the long-lost Kottbusser, which has been named after the beer style itself, has been brought to life on BrewDog’s 2nd generation brew kit. Once responsible for bringing iconic BrewDog staples including Punk IPA, Tokyo* and Nanny State into this world, at BrewDog’s original Fraserburgh site, it’s now the beating heart of its Irish brethren’s Wexford set up.

The concept of a collaboration came about as a result of BrewDog’s latest international adventure, whereby the brewer has partnered with 10 breweries across Europe to brew a series of boundary-pushing beers that reflect both BrewDog and its partner breweries’ attitudes and techniques. The YellowBelly Beer collab brew will be the will be closely followed by a mash up with Brewski from Sweden, due to launch in early May. Manic Mango will be available in Sweden only from 4th May at Systembolaget.

BrewDog Brewing Manager John Allen said:

“We are always looking to collaborate with exciting brewers from all over the world, and when it came to Ireland, the guys and the beers from YellowBelly Beer really caught our attention after featuring them in our bars last year. Brewing with the team was awesome, and they’re definitely destined for great things with the selection and quality of beers they are making.”

The brain child of YellowBelly Beer’s Head Brewer, Declan Nixon, and BrewDog’s Brewing Manager, John Allen, ‘Kottbusser’ is an old German beer style from the 1800s, named after the town Cottbus in Germany. The original style was sour, similar in acidity to its relative Berliner Weisse, and brewed using wheat, oats and barley, featuring a healthy addition of noble hop, with Honey and molasses then added to give the beer more fermentable sugars and subtle, complex undertones.

To add to the excitement of this collaboration, BrewDog and YellowBelly Beer are brewing TWO iterations of their Kottbusser. The first is a kettle-soured version, featuring Scottish heather honey and Mr. Jeffares Wexford Blackcurrants. For the second version, the brewers are creating a straight version without the sour edge. This latter interpretation of the beer will be brewed at BrewDog’s Ellon site in Scotland.

Brewing Manger John Allen continued:

“With YellowBelly doing some great kettle sours, we thought this recipe would work great with a tart, sweet kick. So not a “traditional” Kottbusser but neither us nor YellowBelly are particularly known for having a traditional attitude to brewing.”

REUNITING OLD FRIENDS

As well as reviving lost recipes, BrewDog has also been reliving old memories on its 2nd generation brewkit, which is now part of YellowBelly Beer’s impressive setup in Wexford. This brewkit was the main hub of brewing at BrewDog in its infancy before eventually becoming a pilot kit, after expansion, for its innovative small batch brews.

John added:

“There’s an awesome and unique link between YellowBelly Beer and BrewDog in that they have the original brew kit from Fraserburgh that they installed early 2017 to boost capacity. After many hard yards in Scotland, the YellowBelly team gave it a facelift and added a few little bits of kit. They are now smashing out some great tasting, high quality beers.”

The beer starts hitting stores next week, but you can join the YellowBelly Beer crew to officially launch ‘Kottbusser’ at some of these locations:

· Simon Lambert & Sons, Wexford (Friday 30th March)

· Caribou, Galway (Thursday 5th April)

· Barcadia, Cork (Friday 6th April)

· Underdog, Dublin (Saturday 7th April)

Keep an eye to YellowBelly Beer and BrewDog social media channels for more info and behind the scenes footage from the brewday.